Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

Human Rights Half Measures: Avoiding Accountability in Post-War Sri Lanka

Open to the Public

This seminar will present an argument that states who are reluctant to comply with their human rights obligations employ "half-measures" as a coalition-blocking strategy to prevent the mobilization of cohesive international pressure and censure. A case study of response to international demand for post-conflict justice in Sri Lanka illustrates these dynamics and demonstrates that pursuing half-measures can successfully disrupt international pressure by targeting the set of less engaged states that act as veto points on multilateral action.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Sri Lankan government victory monument at Puthukkudiyiruppu, July 25, 2016.

About

Disingenuous human rights behavior is common in the international system and is often characterized in the academic literature as "cheap talk." But such talk is not always cheap. States routinely engage in human rights behavior that carries significant costs, but fails to meet their obligations.

This seminar will present an argument that states who are reluctant to comply with their human rights obligations employ "half-measures" as a coalition-blocking strategy to prevent the mobilization of cohesive international pressure and censure. A case study of response to international demand for post-conflict justice in Sri Lanka illustrates these dynamics and demonstrates that pursuing half-measures can successfully disrupt international pressure by targeting the set of less engaged states that act as veto points on multilateral action.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.